Electron discharge apparatus



March 1, 1938. F. c. BLANCHA ELECTRON DISCHARGE APPARATUS Filed Dec. 51,1936 Patented Mar. 1, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIQE Felix O. Blancha,Manoa, Pa., assignor to Radio Corporationof America, a corporation ofDela ware Application December 31, 1936, Serial No. 118,437

7 Claims.

This invention relates to electron discharge apparatus, particularly toreceptacles or jackets for fluid cooled electron discharge tubes, andhas special reference to the provision of means providing a fluid-tightseal between a tube and its jacket.

In one form of electron discharge device which comprises a thermioniccathode, a grid and an anode enclosed in an evacuated container, aportion of the container is formed of metal and this metal portionconstitutes the anode of the device. In the operation of such a device,particularly when high potentials are employed, a large amount of heatis generated, and in order to dissipate excess heat, which mightotherwise destroy the device, it has been customary to provide a waterjacket in which the metal anode is seated.

The principal difficulty encountered in assembling and operating coolingarrangements of the type described is that of forming a fluid-tight sealbetween the discharge device and its water jacket. To this end it haspreviously been proposed to provide an outwardly extending flange on themetal anode and a cooperating rim and gasket within the. jacket uponwhich the anode flange rests. The prior art further dictates the use ofone or more set screws for exerting a clamping force to the assembly ata plurality of spaced points about the periphery of the said flange.Seals of the type described are not entirely satisfactory, for thereason that it is not always possible to distribute the clamping forcewith the high degree of uniformity'required to achieve and to maintain,a fluid-tight seal.

A principal object of the. present invention is to obviate the above andother disadvantages of prior art cooling arrangements for electrondischarge devices.

Other objects and advantages, together with certain details ofconstruction, will be apparent and the invention itself will be bestunderstood by reference to the following description when read inconnection with the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is asectional elevation of a water jacket constructed in accordance with theprinciple of the invention,

Figure 2 is a sectional plan View taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1,

Figure 3 is an end view of one of the rotary members of Figs. 1 and 2,and

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

As shown in the drawing, the cooling apparatus comprises a container orjacket ID for water or other cooling fluid, in which the metal portion Mof an electron discharge tube T is inserted. The container Ill ispreferably made of brass or other non-rusting, heat-conductive material,and comprises a hollow cylindrical body portion 12, a

chambered head l4, and a threaded cap l6. Cooling liquid is supplied tothe container ID by means of an inlet pipe IP in the wall of thechambered head l4, and is discharged through an outlet pipe OP in oradjacent the bottom of the hollow cylindrical body portion l2. The flowof cooling liquid may be reversed if desired.

The cylindrical walls of the jacket I0 extend upwardly beyond thechambered head I4, and its outer surface terminates in a threadedportion I8 which engages a complementary threaded portion 20 on theinner surface of cap Hi. The interior wall of the threaded head M of thejacket I!) terminates in a stepped series of concentric shoulders 22, 24and 26. The surface of the outermost shoulder 22 slopes inwardly andpreferably terminates abruptly at the rim 23 of the upstanding side wallof shoulder 24. The base of the innermost shoulder 26 supports a gasket28, upon which an outwardly extending flange Tf, forming part of thetube T, is seated. The outer periphery of flange T1 extends to, butpreferably not beyond, the upstanding side wall of shoulder 24, and theplane of the upper surface of this flange Tf preferably coincides withthe plane of rim 23, so that the inwardly sloping surface of shoulder22, in effect, terminates in a groove 25 which extends entirely aroundthe periphery of flange Ti. 7

The cap it comprises a short cylinder which terminates in an inwardlyand downwardly extending flange 3D. The inner wall of the cylindricalcap i6 is provided with a groove 32 which preferably extends entirelyaround the cylinder, in a plane preferably slightly below the plane ofthe inner extremity of the flange 3B.

As shown more clearly in Fig. 2, groove 32 accommodates a wire-likearcuate spring member 34, which is free to move around the groove 32.Spring 34 supports a plurality of rollers 36 in spaced relation,irrespective of its exact position in groove 32. For this purpose,spring 34 is provided with three extensions 3411; which extenddownwardly and outwardly from the inner wall of cap l6 and are loopedrespectively about the axles 36a upon which members 36 rotate. Therotary members 36 are of duplicate construction and, as shown in detailin Fig. 4, comprise an orifice 35b for axle 360 an inwardly inclinedtread portion 360, and a rounded flange portion 36d. Axle 36a isprovided with a head 36a to maintain rotary member 36 thereon, and asecond head 36f for retaining the looped extension 34a of spring member34 around axle 36a.

The tension of the looped extensions 34a of the outer surface of themain body of the jacket, the side walls of rotary members 36 will besubstantially parallel to the wall of the cap l6 and out of the way ofthe tube flange Tf when this flange is passed through the mouth of thejacket prior to being seated on gasket 28. In this position, the loweredges of the rounded flanges 36d of rotary members 36 will be well up onthe inwardly inclined surface of the topmost shoulder 22.

As shown in Fig. 1, the under surface of the downwardly extending capflange 30 constitutes a track for the treads 360 of rotary members 36.When the cap I6 is screwed down more tightly upon the jacket l0, rotarymembers 36 are inclined inwardly against the tension or biasing force ofspring members. 36a, and the rounded flange portions 38d of rotarymembers 36 slide downwardly on the inwardly sloping surface. of shoulder22 until they are projected over the rim 23 into the groove 25 about theperiphery of the tube flange Tf. With the rounded flange portions 36d ofrotary members 36 within the groove 25, the tread portions 360 are incontact with the top surface of flange T). As the cap I6 is screwed downfurther on the threaded portion of the jacket head M, a rolling forcewill be applied to the tube flange T at spaced points about theperiphery thereof by the rotary members 35. As these members 3'5 rotate,a clamping force will, fact, be applied with increasing intensity aroundthe entire periphery of flange Tf. Members 36 are all of the samediameter, so that, when they eventually come to rest, the clamping forceexerted through them is distributed evenly about flange T whereby afluid-tight seal is provided between the tube and its jacket.

Preferably, the number of points at which the clamping force issimultaneously applied is no less than the minimum number of pointsrequired to define the plane of flange T), i. e., three. Thus, in theillustrated embodiment of the invention, three rotary clamping members36 are employed. It may, however, be desirable, particularly where theJacket is designed to accommodate a very large tube, to employ more thanthree rotary members. Such modification is deemed within the scope ofthe invention.

Other modifications will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art.It is therefore to be understood that the invention is not to be limitedexcept as required by the prior art and the spirit of the appendedclaims.

What is claimed is:

1. The combination with a discharge tube having a part to be cooled andan outwardly extending flange on said part, of a hollow fluidreceptaclehaving a shoulder upon which said flange rests to support said partwithin said receptacle, and means for applying a rolling force ofincreasing intensity around the periphery of said flange to establish afluid-tight seal between said tube and said receptacle.

2. The combination with a discharge tube having a cylindrical metal walland an outwardly extending flange thereon, of a hollow fluid receptaclehaving a shoulder upon which said flange rests when said cylindricalmetal portion of said tube is seated within said receptacle, means forapplying a rolling force at a plurality of circumferentialiy spacedareas around the periphery of said flange, and means for varying theintensity of said rolling force whereby to establish a fluid-tight sealbetween said tube and said receptacle.

3. In a device of the class described, an annular shoulder having aninwardly inclined surface, a rotary member adapted to contact saidsurface and means for moving said rotary member inwardly and downwardlyover said inclined surface into engagement with a member to be secured.

i. In a receptacle of the class described provided with a shoulderhaving an inwardly inclined surface, a cap for said receptaclecomprising an annular member adapted to be moved with respect to saidreceptacle, a plurality of rotary members mounted for movement aroundthe inner walls of said cap, and means responsive to movement of saidcap with respect to said receptacle for moving said rotary members oversaid inclined surface into engagement, and by reverse movement out ofengagement, with a member to be secured within said receptacle.

5. The combination with a discharge tube having a part to be cooled andan outwardly extending flange on said part, of a hollow fluid receptaclehaving a shoulder extending outwardly beyond said flange and upon whichsaid flange rests to support said part within said receptacle, a rotarymember mounted for movement on said shoulder, biasing means tending tomaintain said rotary member in a position on said shoulder whereat it isbeyond the periphery of said flange, and means for moving said rotarymember inwardly on said shoulder against the force of its biasing meansinto engagement with said flange.

6. The combination with a discharge tube having a part to be cooled andan outwardly extending flange on said part, of a hollow fluid receptaclehaving an inwardly inclined shoulder upon which said flange rests tosupport said part within said receptacle, a rotary member movable onsaid inclined shoulder, biasing means tending to maintain said rotarymember in a position of said inclined shoulder whereat it is out ofcontact with said flange, means for moving said rotary member inwardlyon said inclined shoulder against the force of its biasing means intoengagement with said flange, and means including said rotary member forapplying a rolling force around the periphery of said flange toestabbetween said tube and said tending to maintain said rotary memberson said shoulder beyond the periphery of said flange to permit saidflange to be entered upon said shoulder, means for moving said rotarymembers inwardly on said shoulder against the force of their I biasingmeans into engagement with said flange,

and means including said rotary members for applying a rolling forceabout substantially the entire periphery of said flange to establish afluid tight seal between said tube and receptacle.

FELIX C. BLANCHA.

